Railroad switch heater



Oct. 10, 1961 E. E. TIEDT 3,003,547

RAILROAD SWITCH HEATER Filed Nov. 16. 1959 E mes! E Tied) 1N VEN TOR.

BY 2mm United States Patent 3,003,547 RAILROAD SWITCH HEATER Ernest E. Tiedt, 101 W. 11th, Evart, Mich. Filed Nov. 16, 1959, Ser. No. 853,284

3 Claims. (Cl. 158-35) This invention relates to a railroad switch heater and more particularly to a portable heater of this type.

An object of the invention is to provide a practical and easily used railroad switch heater for producing necessary heat; to be applied at the switches of the rails of a railroa Briefly, the invention is embodied in a container for fuel, usually hydrocarbon fuel. A wick-like device is connected with the tank and feeds a burner structure of what is considered to be a unique design. The heater is of 3 size and configuration as to be easily carried and use These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view, parts broken away in section, of a switch heater in accordance with the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a top view of the heater in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2..

FIGURE 4 is a perspective View of a part of the burner construction shown in FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a modification of the burner construction.

In the accompanying drawings there is a railroad switch heater illustrated to show the principles of the invention in preferred arrangements thereof. The heater is made of a tank 12, preferably of rectangular form. The tank 12 has four walls 14, a bottom wall 16 and a top wall 18. The top Wall is made of a flat panel having 21 depending skirt 2i) integral therewith and soldered or otherwise welded in place on the side walls 14 thereby forming a tight enclosure defining a fuel chamber 22. A filler neck 24 is connected with the top Wall 18 and has a vented filler cap 26 separably attached thereto. Carrying handle 28 extending lengthwise of the tank, is rigidly secured to the top wall 18 of the tank.

There is an aperture 30 (FIGURE 3) formed in one of the end walls 14 of the tank, and it has a length of tubing 32 fitted therein and held firmly in place, for instance by being soldered. The tubing is a smoothly curved elbow and has the upper end thereof located above the top wall 18. The tubing extends in a generally upright direction when the heater is disposed on a horizontal supporting surface (FIGURE 1). The tubing contains an absorbent liquid conducting material 36, for instance asbestos wicking to conduct fuel from the lower part of the fuel chamber to the burner assembly 38. The upper extremity of the tubing 3-2 is narrowed to provide a tapered neck 40 constituting a part of the burner assembly 38. There is an inner cylindrical cup 42 circumscribing neck 40 and secured at its lower edge 44 to the bottom wall 46 of an outer burner cup 48. The outer burner cup has a number of openings 56 in bottom wall 48 thereof, and a sleeve 52 registered with an aperture at the center. The sleeve 52 is fitted over the upper part of the tubing 32 and held in place, for instance by welding or soldering. Neck 40 extends upwardly from the plane of the bottom wall 46. The side wall of the outer cup is shallow with respect to the side wall of the inner cup 42, and there are notches 58 formed in the "ice lower part of cup42 but within the confines of the outer cu 48.

r vaporizing element 59 is made of a coil 60 of tubing. There are a plurality of orifices 62 in the vaporizing element 59, and many of the orifices 62 are in the stern portion 64 thereof. The stem portion has a pointed lower end 66 (FIGURE 3) adapted to penetrate the wicking I 36 when the vaporizing element is mounted within inner cup 42. The mounting is achieved by pushing the inner end of the vaporizing element into the opening at the top of neck 40 so that a substantial part of the stem 64 penetrates the wicking 36. This will automatically position the coil of the vaporizing element within the confines of inner cup 42.

FIGURE 5 shows a modification of burner assembly. The modification 38a is connected with tubing 32a identical to tubing 32 and containing wicking 36a. There is only a single cup 70 in the modification in FIGURE 5, and this single cup has a side wall 71 of cylindrical formation and a bottom wall 72 having an opening 73 in the center thereof. Tubing 32a slides through opening 73, after which the burner cup 70 is fixed in place, for instance by soldering or welding. There are a plurality of apertures 74 in the side wall of tubing 32a immediately below the neck 40a thereof. These apertures are in lateral registry with the interior of cup 70.

The vaporizing element 59a is made of a coil 60w but there are two stems 64a and 64b essentially parallel to each other and extending from the ends of the coil 60a. The two stems are adapted to be fitted within the confines of cup 70 adjacent to the apertures 74. Orifices 62a in the two stems register with apertures 74-.

In use, fuel is fed by conduction through the wicking that is supplied to burner assembly 38 or 38a. It is pointed out that the capacity of the tank is large in comparison to the size of the railroad switch heater.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A railroad switch heater comprising a tank, said tank having a plurality of side walls, a bottom wall and a top wall, means connected with one of said walls for filling the tank with fuel, a tube connected with the lower part of the tank and in registry with the interior of the tank, wicking in said tube, said tube extending upwardly with reference to the tank, a burner assembly connected with said tube at the outer end thereof and including a vaporizing element made of a coil, said coil having a stern extending from an end thereof and provided with a plurality of apertures, said tubing having a reduced neck portion at the outer end thereof into which said stem is inserted, and said stem having a pointed end to facilitate insertion thereof into said wicking.

2. A railroad switch heater comprising a portable fuel tank, a burner tube connected at one end to the tank in communication therewith and extending upwardly therefrom, a wick in said tube, and a burner assembly mounted on the tube, said burner assembly comprising a perforated vaporizer including a vertical, perforated tubular stem extending downwardly into the tube and the wick through the upper end portion of said tube, and a vertical tubular coil on the upper end of said stem.

3. A railroad switch heater comprising a portable fuel tank, a burner tube connected at one end to the tank in communication therewith and extending upwardly therefrom, a wick in said tube, and a burner assembly mounted on the tube, said burner assembly comprising a perforated vaporizer including a vertical, perforated tubular stem extending downwardly into the tube and the Wick through the upper end portion of said tube, and a vertical tubular coil on the upper end of said stem, said burner assembly further comprising an outer cup mounted coaxially on said other end portion of said tube, said outer cup including a perforated bottom, and a cylindricalinner cupmonnted in the outer cup in inwardly spaced, coaxial relation thereto and afiixed to said bottom thereof inwardly of the perforations in said bottom, said inner cup having openings in the lower portion thereof communicating with the outer cup, said inner cup encircling and being spaced concentrically from the coil and said other end portion of the tube.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 185,065 Bean Dec. 5, 1876 1,008,389 Swan Nov. 14, 1911 1,469,795 Knapp Oct. 9, 1923 2,585,648 Greenfield Feb. 12, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 257,433 France 1896 227,356 Great Britain Jan. 15, 1925 

